Read Online Prime Claiming (The Prime Chronicles) by Monette Michaels - Free Book Online Page A

in a low tone that carried to him and no further. After all, they were sitting in the crowded crew’s dining area. Too many nosy gazes had already turned their way; there was no need to give the busy-bodies anything else to gossip about. “But not fricking dessert.”
    Well, not unless she could lick chocolate frosting off his cock—which she’d only seen outlined by his tight uniform pants—or maybe off the chiseled abs she’d caught a mere glimpse of as he stretched to mount a router to the lab ceiling.
    “Would you like an after-dinner drink?” His tone was a studied calm even as his eyes blazed with golden sparks. His hands were fisted on the tabletop until every tendon showed white with the control he exerted.
    Changing the subject? Really?
    “No. I … don’t … want … a … drink.” With excruciating care, Cheri shoved away the now-naked plate and placed her hands flat on the table. Then she leaned over the table to close the distance between them. “What I want is you … me … in bed … or against a wall … or wherever … doing nasty, erotic things to one another.”
    Flopping back against the booth seat, she ran shaky fingers through her hair, a nervous gesture she’d resorted to a lot over the last several days.
    “Z-z-zaek…” Cheri took a deep, steadying breath to smooth the neediness out of her voice. “We’ve spent most of the last three days together. Platonically together.” She gripped the edges of the table to keep from tearing her hair out from vexation … from insecurity. “The doctors say we’re mating … but you’ve only kissed me three times. You barely touch me. You’re sitting clear over there—you’re holding back. Why?”
    “I’m courting you.” The low growl which accompanied Zaek’s blunt statement was the I-want-to-fuck-you sound Prime males only used with their mates. She’d heard it enough in the lab when Iolyn Caradoc was around his gemate Bria.
    Thank God. Zaek wouldn’t court her or growl in that way if he didn’t want her. But—
    “Courting?” She wrinkled her nose. “For the love of God, why?”
    “Dr. Lia’s lecture was very clear on the protocols Prime males must follow when dating Terran women.”
    What the—
    “Bullshit.” Cheri would have a few choice words to share with her new friend Lia … later. Right now, she had to straighten out her misguided man. “Those rules, darlin’, are for Prime males dating Terrans who are not showing signs of the mating bond.”
    Zaek frowned. When he opened his mouth to say—she was sure—something really irritating, she reached across the table and trailed a fingertip lightly over the back of his fisted hands. A muscle in his lean, chiseled jaw pulsed rapidly as she stroked. She wanted that hand on her naked skin so badly she could feel it—had felt it in her tortured dreams.
    “Darlin’…we’re almost bonded—”
    “Yes.” He leaned forward. His gaze, now darkened to amber, fixed on her like a predator eyeing tasty prey. “Have no doubt … you are mine .”
    The mine boomed around the room like a thunderclap, momentarily silencing the multitude of conversations in the room. Several dozen heads turned toward their booth.
    God, can this get any more embarrassing? Probably.
    “I want you.” Cheri ignored their fascinated audience. “I sense you want me. So … why haven’t you been … um, more physical with me? Even courting couples touch and kiss and—”
    The word fuck stuck in her throat. Her cheeks burned. Never in her entire adult life had she been embarrassed about letting a guy know she was interested in sex. But then, none of her previous sexual encounters had been more than a fleeting night of fun … of scratching a sexual itch.
    Zaek, and what they would have together, was more … so much more important. This was about finding a loving, lasting relationship … about creating a family―something Cheri hadn’t even thought about until she met Zaek.
    Relaxing his fists,